By Daniel Stefanski |
Arizona’s Republican school’s chief is taking additional action to raise awareness for Holocaust education.
Earlier this week, State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne presented the Arizona Jewish Historical Society with a seven-million-dollar check for the purpose of creating the Hilton Family Holocaust Education Center.
The mission of the center, per its website, is that it will be “dedicated to exploring the lessons of the Holocaust and other crimes against humanity. The Center educates and inspires visitors of diverse backgrounds through survivor stories, artifacts, immersive media experiences, community outreach, and public programs.” Its vision is to “inspire visitors to learn from the Holocaust, to become upstanders, and to work toward a world without hatred and bigotry.”
Horne stated, “In the past year, we have seen the unbelievable and tragic targeting of the Jewish community with the horrific acts committed on innocent men, women and children by Hamas in Israel, the ignorant and misguided protests against Jews on college campuses and the endorsement of antisemitic literature in some Arizona classrooms. This cannot go unchallenged, and educating people is one of the most powerful tools to face this scourge. Developing the Hilton Family Holocaust Education Center is a needed step toward bridging understanding between people of all ethnicities and belief systems and I am grateful to be a part of this important cause.”
Joining Horne at the presentation were State Representatives Alma Hernandez and David Marshall. Arizona business leader Steve Hilton also appeared alongside the state officials.
It was bipartisan legislation spearheaded by Hernandez and Marshall that made the check presentation from the Arizona Department of Education possible for the benefit of the Center.
According to the Center’s website, the explanation for why it is being created at this time is because “Phoenix is the fifth largest city in the United States, yet it is the largest U.S. city that does not have a Holocaust museum or education center. With anti-Semitic and hate crimes on the rise over the last five years in Arizona and the United States, now is the time to build a new center to raise awareness and educate the community so that we can help to address these critical issues that affect all groups of people that may be marginalized and made vulnerable to discrimination. When one group’s freedom is curtailed, all people are susceptible to prejudice and injustice.”
Daniel Stefanski is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
